What's happening in parliament - September 2024

One of the most common questions we get asked is ‘how long does a bill take to pass through parliament?’ Unfortunately, the answer is 'it depends'. The length of time a bill takes to pass through parliament depends on a number of factors, including whether it is an amendment to a previous bill or a bill to establish a brand new Act of Parliament, if and how many amendments are proposed, the legislative agenda, and how much support for there is for bill.

The two bills, the Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024 and the Constitution Amendment SEC Bill 2023 have had varying lengths of time in parliament, the first passing the Legislative Assembly in a couple of weeks and the second taking almost a year to pass both houses.

Legislative Assembly

Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024

The Criminal Organisations Control Amendment Bill 2024 seeks to amend the Criminal Organisations Control Act 2022, along with making amendments to several other Acts. For example, it substitutes a new, narrower definition of family member, which has previously been defined in the Family Violence Protection Act 2008.

The purposes of the bill are to make changes to the unlawful association scheme, to prohibit the public display of the insignia of certain organisations, and to prevent adult members of certain organisations from entering certain areas at Victorian Government worksites.

The timeline of the bill

Legislative Assembly

• 28 August 2024, Introduced into the Legislative Assembly
• 29 August 2024, Statement of Compatibility tabled, and second reading moved
• 10 September 2024,  Introduced as part of government business program
• 12 September 2024: Debate resumed, opposition amendments circulated and second reading passed
• 12 September 2024: Third reading passed. Bill sent to the Legislative Council

Legislative Council

• 12 September 2024, Message received from the Assembly
• 12 September 2024, First reading passed, Statement of Compatibility tabled and second reading moved

Follow the progress of the bill and read the explanatory memorandum on the Victoria Legislation website 

Legislative Council

Constitution Amendment (SEC) Bill 2023

The purpose of this bill is to amend the Constitution Act 1975 to entrench a requirement that the State of Victoria always has a controlling interest in the SEC and to entrench the objects of the SEC of supporting Victoria's transition to having a net zero greenhouse gas emissions electricity system and participating in the generation, storage and supply of renewable energy in Victoria. The bill also aims to add a new paragraph that states if a specific section of the Constitution Act 1975 is to be repealed, altered or varied, it must be passed by a special majority within the Assembly and the Council.

What is special majority? When changing the Victorian Constitution, the Parliament of Victoria must pass a bill to amend the Constitution Act 1975. There are certain requirements that must be met for these bills to pass. These procedures are known as; simple majority, special majority, absolute majority or a referendum. For a special majority, the third reading must be passed by at least three fifths (60%) of all members of the Assembly (a minimum of 53 members) and at least three fifths of all members of the Council (a minimum of 24 members).

The timeline of the bill

Legislative Assembly

• 15 November 2023, the bill was introduced into the Legislative Assembly
• 16 November 2023, the statement of compatibility was tabled and the second reading moved
• 5 March 2024, second reading debate resumed, various amendments were circulated, the second reading passed, and third reading moved and passed by special majority

Legislative Council

• 6 March 2024, message received by the Legislative Council from the Legislative Assembly, first reading passed and second reading moved
• 19 March 2024, Opposition and Greens Party amendments circulated.
• 12 September 2024, Government amendments circulated and second readding passed, bill was sent to Committee of the Whole (some amendments agreed to), and third reading passed by special majority

Legislative Assembly

• 12 September, Sent back to the Assembly for consideration of amendments made by the Council.

Follow the progress of the bill and read the explanatory memorandum on the Victorian Legislation website